gymclassheroes

Patrick Stump
Collaborations: Gym Class Heroes; Tyga; Pete Wentz protégées the Cab. And Stump’s stamp was all over hip-hop — he teamed up with Ne-Yo (”Finish Your Food”), the Roots (”Birthday Girl”) and T.I. (”Out in the Cold”) — but none of the tracks made the final versions of their respective albums.
Signature Sound: Emo meets blue-eyed soul
Hottest Track: “One of Those Nights.” On this strutting Cab cut, Stump plays a man begging a girl for a second chance (”I’m a mess… just give me time”). His wince is so desperate that it might just do the trick.
This Is Why He’s Hot: He’s a slave-driver. “For as little as he is, dude’s pretty fucking militant,” says GCH frontman Travis McCoy. “He’ll be like, ‘Travis, hit this note!’ and I’ll be like, ‘Just tune that shit!’ and he’ll say, ‘Just fuckin’ be a man and hit that shit!’ I got four feet on the dude, and he’s putting me in check.”

My Laptop is my new bitch. LOYAL. LISTENS. and NEVER LET’S ME DOWN.

photos courtesy* SnapCracker.

We fight every night, now that’s not kosher
I reminisce with bliss of when we was closer
And wake up to be greeted by an argument again
You act like you’re ten
So immature, I try to concentrate on a cure
And keep lookin’ at the front door
Thinkin’ if I were to evacuate
You’d probably be straighter than straight
And wouldn’t have so much hate
‘Cause you don’t know the pain I feel when I see you smilin’
And when I roll up you start wilin’
So I front like everything’s hunky-dory
But it’s a whole different story
You don’t like the fact that I’m me
I don’t put on a show
When it comes time for you to have company
And your friends don’t understand your choice of man
They speak proper while my speech is from a gargabe can
But regardless, you shouldn’t have to be so raw
I’m lookin’ at the front door


And when you’re with your friends, I glide to the side
Until the spotlight is mine and never sabotage a good time
But when they’re not around, the fights commence
I’m the one you’re against and it doesn’t make sense
‘Cause I’m the one that you claim to love for life
But all I get is gray hairs and strife
And I can play some ole stuck-up rapper role
And get foul every time you lose control
But that’s not my order of operations
So I should win an award for lots of patience
‘Cause that’s all a fella can have
With a girl who’s shootin’ up his world like Shaft
And I don’t think that I can take it anymore
I’m lookin’ at the front door

My friends always tell me how I’m lucky to possess
The best looking girl in the whole U.S.
But every time you scream, you blow your finesse
Tryin’ to dis the Profess-
Or twenty-four hours of acting sore
Sometimes I wish you’d come down with lockjaw
So I don’t have to take in the breakin’
You treat me like a burnt piece of bacon
It seems like just two years 
Back when we were bonded and not pierced
But now I keep itchin’ to jet
Sitting’ in the chair just to stare, set to sprint
Yo, sweetheart, you better take a hint
I say it now like I said it before
I’m lookin’ at the front door

So this is the new year.
And i don’t feel any different.
The clanking of crystal
Explosions off in the distance (in the distance).
So this is the new year
And I have no resolutions
For selfl assigned penance
For problems with easy solutions
So everybody put your best suit or dress on
Let’s make believe that we are wealthy for just this once
Lighting firecrackers off on the front lawn
As thirty dialogues bleed into one
I wish the world was flat like the old days
Then i could travel just by folding a map
No more airplanes, or speedtrains, or freeways
There’d be no distance that can hold us back.
There’d be no distance that could hold us back 
So this is the new year 

“Tame been All City since Tootie had small titties”

- TAMEoner ( The ArtiFacts )

Some things(people) never change. Seems like yesterday. Almost 6 Years ago To the date. WOW, still handsome as HELL.

So at about 5 am this morning we got to do one of my favorite tour activities. We stopped at a (CUE DRUMROLL) WAL-MART SUPERCENTER. Wal-Mart stops are by far the most indulgent, awkward, semi-fullilling, NECASSARY moments of my life. I scored hard this morning Dvd-wise. Barbershop 1&2, The Salon, Little Rascals, Sanford and Son seasons 1-3, Coming to America, City of Men, Dolemite, Petey Wheatstraw The Devil’s Son in Law, Boomerang, the Lazarus Project, Next Firday, Friday After Next,Ganked and The Cosby Show season 1. Alot of Ice Cube, strange. I’m happy as a clam or AM I? I’ve built a nest in the back lounge, it’s quite comfy. I’ve started a Marathon. I’m on my fourth movie. Maybe i’ll give my reviews on them, although i’ve seen most of them already(a few times over) maybe YOU havn’t and I can save you a little money…..Got a couple Britol Paper Sketchbooks and some Mechanical Pencils(my Favorite). I also discovered that JELLY BELLY makes scented candles so i scooped a CottonCandy and Blueberry. I’ve been drinking Raspberry Emergen C’s like Kool-Aid. It’s either that or Stella. No thanks. We enforced a No Smoking policy on the bus this tour, although I am a heavy smoker, I must say its good to not wake up to the smell of 6 burning cigarettes. Me likey!! Jelly Bellys smell way better anyway. Peter, I love you. Thank You. DC is tomorrow night, hope i get to see my man Wale. Cedric The Entertainer is novacane for the soul. I’m here an i aint goin’ nowhere….Barbershop awaits……PS. I think the new Blackberry Storm is the TRUTH and NOTHING BUT. I’ve never been an iphone enthusiast and i was quite satisfied with my Blackberry World Edition(RIP) but i’m such a fan of The Storm, i’m learning more and more about it everyday while I sing a song of sixpence, I’m none the richer I just kiss her on the cheek and keep truckin’….and at night……….

DON’T DO IT!!!!

I’ve come to the conclusion that FRIDAY AFTER NEXT is my favorite Christmas movie. I also JUST realized Christmas even happened. I guess as the years go by Christmas becomes more about giving than receiving. We had secret santa on the bus and Tyler got me 2 Gloomy Bears to add to my already swollen collection, Thanks Ty!! So here I sit in North Carolina, 1/4 of me is watching Friday After Next, 1/4 is typing this and the other half is sitting next to me. He’s not very talkative. Maybe he’s enjoyi ng the movie. Maybe he’s plotting something spectacular. Maybe he hasn’t slept in 2 days. “GROUP HUG!!!, C’MON CRAIG!!” hahahaha, this movie kills me. I’m trying to figure out if Katt Willliams had his two front teefs in this movie or not. It’s very hard to decide. Last night Craig Beasley, Our live -in Tattoo Artist Got so high that he blacked out for a second and projectile vomited across the back lounge, it was kind of awesome. I made it out of the room before chunks were blown but had i I not it would have started a Stand By Me “Barf -O- Rama” effect and there would have been puke and dookie everywhere. Keri Hilson is very nice, I met her for the first time yesterday. Today I was mirroring one of her back up dancers, to my surprise my choreography skills aren’t really that bad. I held my motherfuckin’ own. Keri has challenged us to Wii bowling, who could resist?? We’ll see what ensues. Everyone else on the tour is showing soooo much love. Easily one of the TOP 4 tours for me, next to FOB, Roots and Estelle and I Am The Avalanche w/ Whole Wheat Bread. can’t wait to start working with Pain on this new project. People GET READY!!! Spring is gonna be soooo much fun, lots of fun news coming up. i’ll let you know as they begin to come into fruition instead of getting you gassed and anticipating, Welp ‘im gonna join myself in watching the rest of this flick and eat some ice cream pre melted in the microwave for 15 seconds on HIGH, NAPPY BOOOOOOY!!!!….. Oh and you know what they say…….NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY……..

I  Just Shut Dejesus out 21-0 in NFL BLITZ THE LEAGUE for 360, IN MY SLEEP, LITERALLY!!

(CNN) — A man angry that a family was talking during a movie threw popcorn at the son and then shot the father in the arm, according to police in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

ON CHRISTMAS???!!!?? wtf

The realest shit that ever left your lips was “People change” / But I’m NOT your average Joe so I opted to stay the same………

“

So he would sulk and drink and mope
and cross his arms and hope to die.
And then a fairy came one night
to bring this sorry boy to life.
She pulled some strings
and spun him about.
That boy sprang up
and began to shout,
“My arms, my legs, my heart, my face they’re alive!”
And she would cry, “Liar, liar!
What have I done?
You’re no lover, and I’m no fighter.”

(The story goes on)

So he would buy her things and kiss her hair
to show he was for real.
And she would take those gifts and kisses
though just stringing him along.
She knew about those wooden boys-
it’s an empty love to fill the void.
“Pinocchio! Oh boy, how your nose has grown!”
So he would cry, “Liar, liar!
I’ll prove it to you!”
But then it grew
He had grown tired of her
So it was true
He left her apartment
And he walked all night long
‘til he was stopped by the shore of the ocean.
But still he walked on, amongst the whales
and the waves, and screamed
“Liar, liar!”
And his wooden body floated away.
He just drifted away.

And now I wonder how i was made…
my arms, my legs, my heart, my face,
my name is Driftwood.

”

- Tim Kasher

IT’S OFFICIAL, NAPPY BOOOOOOOOOOOY!!!!!!!!

Last night Wayne wore the “Without you, I’m just me” Kr3w T-shirt that Pete and I designed…Love is love. Thanks Weezy!

www.myspace.com/timwilliammusic

peace

“Mrs Blue this flower goes to you”

Having manors shouldnt be a seasonal thing but for people but for me personally i do expect a certain holiday kindess from people around this time of year. Call me what you want but i cannot stand “Rude” people. Coming from new york you think I would be used to it.

I just landed in detroit and i have to say today was a terrible airport experience and not because of the 2 hour delay lol but because of Humans and there lack of manors.

So its the day after Christmas and yes the airports are crowded and the lines are long, therefore we retrogress into a “caveman” state of mind?? In the year 2008 a man is killed by other people trampling him to death!! WTF is going on???

Weve lost all rationality when a man is murdered because his life is worth less than the reduced price of store products.

“We Need A Cure”

Merry Christmas Yall!! (My brothers and I)

“Holiday”

what became of everyone i used to know?
where did our respectable convictions go?
your words don’t match the story that your actions show, but what do i know?
i’m sure you can’t help but remembering
I thought that you’d be one not to forget,
but remembering’s not helping you yet.
say goodnight means goodbye.
i know you think my life would stop with you away
maybe I can see you on the holidays,
but you’re worlds away
I’ve never forgotten all our yesterdays but i’m lucky if we’re speaking on the holidays
the evidence presents itself accusingly,
your absence speaking everything you think of me
now that I am faced with opportunity
you’re not remembering
I’m not asking you anyway
Even if you ever could cave in
I wouldn’t know where to begin

It is currently 2:25am on Christmas morning, i’m sitting on the loveseat in my living room and the girl is passed out on the other couch, i’ve been reviewing all the songs for my new solo record which will be recorded this February along with a few other different projects. I should be tired but i’m not, I decided i’m going to take a break from the drinking for a while…i’ve realized I don’t like myself all that much when i’m totally hammered and I usually end up paying for it dearly the next day, I guess this is partly what it means to be 25…while i’m sure that sounds slightly jaded it is the truth…When I was younger I would drink all the time and bounce back from a night on the town like it was nothing, now it hurts and I usually spend the entire following day hating life and wanting to die. I got some great new stuff for the studio today, i’m so ready to get in there and get cracking but its still going to be a while.

I’ve been noticing lately that a few more people have been reading my blog and in some instances reposting my shit on their blog…I would like to ask that people please refrain from doing this, this is certainly not an order just a request….I’ve visited some of these other blogs and usually come to find that they are indeed nothing but reposts from blogs of other people…I thought the whole point of these things was to speak your mind, share things you like and share stories about your life? Maybe I don’t know what the fuck i’m talking about but those are just my thoughts. 

I’m having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit, despite the fact that i’m mildly notorious for hating everything Christmas is one of the few holidays I do enjoy, its kinda tough just coming off tour and having to jump right back on. For me Christmas is all about the days before and after, going shopping on the 26th and spending time with family and the friends who are still good enough to stick around despite my ridiculous lack of communication.

I need some new music in my life right now, its been a while since i’ve found a really important record…one that makes me rethink my life and recording skills and everything else. I need a new KID A or an Easy Tiger something to lift my fucking spirits, I initially dismissed Vampire Weekend but this is one of the closest thing to which I speak of.

I purchased a small field recorder recently, a tascam DR-1. It’s a lovely little piece of machinery that enables me to record in high quality 24 bit stereo everywhere I go, this morning I captured a bunch of random peoples conversations on an airplane, I plan to splice these little bits into a post rock project that i’m hopefully also going to get a chance to work on in February, i’ve also been using this to do demo versions of acoustic songs off of my next record.

I suppose I should get some sleep in preperation for the ridiculousness that is Christmas day though I can’t say for sure that this will happen. LISTEN TO SLAYER that is all.

Tyler!

Kid from Kid & Play’s new single lol

Waaaay too FRESH for our own good!!! Check The “Pennies”, clawd have mercy!!!

Me and Polow Da Don, we’re about to make some NOISE in 09.

Me and Lil’ Chuckee, He stay all over that bread like sesame seeds!! 13 years old, on  tour, getting it in.

Me and Detail….been working with this dude on some new music…it’s OUTTA HERE!!!!!, You’ll SEE!!!

A Kid Named Travie and A KId Named Cudi…We in that Delorian…Soooooooo Marty McFLY!!!!!!!!

We’ve decided after a photoshop touch up this will be the cover of ME and KID CUDI’S NEW RECORD, As of Yet Untitled. Yes, That is the REAL Delorian from Back II The Future……

I got a new hat!!!!

amongst other great articles of clothing. It’s been a fun and relaxing day, I really think I love LA and California as a whole, if it weren’t for all the vain douchebag shitheads thinking they’re somebodies I could totally see myself living here.

Were in El Paso, TX and we just had some awesome mexican food, this tour is making me crazy and it has only just begun, the shows are getting better though so hopefully in another two or three days things will be great. Im getting really sick again and my throat and nose feel like total garbage…there is more to talk about but somethings are better left unsaid.

I watched it for the second time today and i lovve that movie! Such a deep film. If youve seen it im curious as to what kind of message you got from it??

<3

B is for…..

BERNIE ALLEN!!!

B is for……..

BATSQUAD!!!!!!

Merry X- Mas Mtv and everyone sexy!!!

Dear Mr.
Obama,

Congratulations on your recent victory, and for helping build such a strong mandate for change. In that spirit, please do not forget the other aisle you need to reach across. All the relief and publicity for the middle class won’t do anything for the 40-100 million Americans who are starving, unemployed or just plain poor.


You have gone out of your way to build a bridge to those of us fed up with war, pollution, inequality, corporate lawlessness and business as usual. You have energized a whole new generation who is far ahead of their elders in knowing what urgently needs to be done. I have never seen such an outpouring of heartfelt emotion, hope and support for an American politician in my life, and I remember Kennedy well. You are the first president in my lifetime to have a bona fide grassroots movement behind you and ready to rock. I hope those crowds’ hope and urgency has penetrated deeply enough that you won’t let that bridge be washed away.


I remember another person who had the audacity to exploit and toss aside people’s hope, and his name is Bill Clinton. Democrats fail time and again when they shirk responsibility and settle for being dealmakers instead of leaders. As important as it is to find common ground and build consensus for change, our situation is so dire we cannot afford any more dealmakers. The people voted for a leader. Anything less risks breaking the hearts of an entire galvanized generation who may then decide it is not worth it to get involved and participate any more.


Strong medicine is needed.
Here are some ideas:

IRAQ – TRY THIS!

The closest thing to a solution I have heard was offered clear back in April 2004 by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (www. oic-ico. org). The OIC is comprised of 57 Islamic countries ranging from West Africa clear over to Southeast Asia. At their annual meeting they found six member nations (Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Yemen and Morocco) willing to pony up enough of their own troops (approx. 150,000) that our troops could have gone home! Who slammed the door on that one? Colin Powell, on the grounds that having the Islamic soldiers under UN command instead of Americans was out of the question.


WHY??!? Wouldn’t a neutral force of Muslim peacekeepers make a lot more headway than the disaster we’ve made? Wouldn’t they at least command a lot more respect, resulting in a huge drop in violence? Surely the non-stop carnage and Iracketeering we have spawned is Exhibit A that we need to get over this colonialist illusion that other countries’ problems can only be solved by Americans. The OIC’s proposal for US withdrawal and peace in Iraq must be revisited immediately, and also considered for Afghanistan.


We must end not just our military occupation of Iraq, but our economic occupation NOW. Iraq is not ours to sell, and neither is its oil. Your promise not to leave any permanent US military bases in Iraq is a good start. But you have also backed leaving US troops in Iraq to “protect American assets like the Green Zone.” The Green Zone is not our “asset.” We stole it and we have to give it back. I hope you don’t seriously believe we can get away with that giant feudal fortress of an embassy we are building, ten times the size of any other in history. We cannot afford to waste any more money on this, or down the black hole of the Bush administration’s crony backroom deals with corrupt, incompetent private contractors like Blackwater, KBR and Halliburton. We need to fire them and they need to leave—NOW.


We do owe the Iraqi people help, and we have an obligation to clean up the mess we have made. That goes double for Afghanistan. But I can’t see this getting done unless someone other than the United States is in charge. Let us also not forget the 2 million-plus refugees stuck outside Iraq who are draining the economies of Iraq’s neighbors, especially Jordan and Syria.


TERROR – STRATEGY AND DIPLOMACY, NOT WAR

Even if we kill off every insurgent and terrorist-sympathizer from sea to shining sea, what will their kids be like? And theirs? Wake up. The major cause of terrorism is not evil, it’s poverty.
Michael Moore said it best after 9/11: “Will we ever get to the point that we realize that we will be more secure when the rest of the world isn’t living in poverty so we can have nice running shoes?” What do we need an empire for anyway? Ever notice how much happier the British and Europeans are now that they don’t have to worry about policing colonial empires anymore?

Many experts and heads of state, in the Middle East and beyond, agree that the best way by far to pull the rug out from under the terrorists and reduce their attacks dramatically is a just and humane resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel’s right to exist is threatened most by the fact that hardcore zealots are running the show on both the Palestinian and Israeli sides. If we don’t have the courage to stand up to them, who will? As painful as withdrawal to Israel’s pre-1967 borders will be, our future depends on it. So does Israel’s.
As Reagan said to Gorbachev, “Tear down this wall!”

Threatening Iran made for great red meat on the campaign trail. But any attack on Iran—by us or using the Israelis as a proxy—will blow up in our face worse than Iraq and Afghanistan combined. It will wipe out any good will and benefit of a doubt we have left in the eyes of the rest of the world. Iran is three times the size of Iraq and much more mountainous. The people there already hate our guts, thanks to our overthrow of their democratically elected leader Mohammed Mossadegh in 1954, ushering in 25 years of torture under the Shah. Backing and aiding Saddam Hussein in the eight-year Iran-Iraq war that cost a million lives did not help either.


So, alas, we will not be “greeted as liberators.” But we could run straight into a worldwide “Day the Earth Stood Still” if Iran responds by blocking all oil shipments out of the Persian Gulf. Iran knows full well they wouldn’t even have to blockade the narrow Strait of Hormuz. All they would have to do is sink a tanker or freighter or two and no other ships will move. Not from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Iraq, nothing. Surely we can do better than this. Even Robert Gates seems to think so. Reckless threats against Pakistan will not solve anything, either.


JUST SAY NO TO TORTURE

Closing Guantanamo Bay is not enough. All torture, detentions without trial, kidnappings (“renditions”) and illegal and unnecessary spying must end—and end with transparency now. Otherwise we are no better than Saddam Hussein or the Nazis. The whole world knows this and the whole world is watching.
What about the 20,000 people we still have locked up without charge in Iraq, and thousands more in Afghanistan???

The USA PATRIOT Act is just about the worst mistake our government has made since FDR threw over 100,000 Japanese-American citizens into concentration camps during World War II. Even you panicked and voted to make the PATRIOT Act permanent. It should be repealed and flushed down the toilet immediately—all of it. Even worse is the Military Commissions Act, in which Senators who should know better, such as Robert Byrd, Sherrod Brown, Ken Salazar and even John McCain voted with the majority to legalize torture, kidnapping and secret trials with secret evidence, wiping out the centuries old human right to habeas corpus.
Again, isn’t this what our “greatest generation” fought so bravely in World War II to stop the Nazis from doing to us?

What galls me most is that all this iron-fisted trashing of our basic human rights has not caught and convicted one significant terrorist! Even the FBI admits that torture doesn’t work.


Meanwhile, if we’re serious about preventing another terror attack, why is only 10% of the cargo entering our ports on ships ever inspected? Sure, no airliners have been hijacked by a terrorist wielding the wrong-sized shampoo bottle. But those cargo containers are big enough to smuggle in a small arsenal of rocket launchers and shoulder-fired missiles that could actually bring down a plane; dirty bomb material; or even Bin Laden himself. I sometimes wonder if he’s driving a cab in Manhattan right now.


RESTORE THE RULE OF LAW

This means investigating and prosecuting each and every Bush administration official and their cronies who may have committed crimes while in power. Otherwise the lesson learned is you can get away with anything you want because the next administration will be too spineless to take action. For crying out loud, DO NOT make the same mistake Bill Clinton did when he let the rampant corruption, perjury and even terrorist acts of the Reagan and Bush I regimes go unpunished in the interest of moving on from the past. The crime here is this: Not only does everyone involved assume they have license to break even more laws the next time they hold power, but those who should be in jail for the lying, arms smuggling, assassinations and drug dealing in the Contra-gate scandal (like Elliot Abrams, Colin Powell, Richard Armitage and Robert Gates among others) are instead handed even more powerful positions where they have done even worse damage. Can you imagine the havoc and hooliganism if we put our heads in the sand after Watergate, let bygones be bygones, and G.
Gordon Liddy wound up as director of the FBI? Secretary of Defense Haldeman? Attorney General Ehrlichman? Karl Rove’s chair occupied by Colson, Magruder or Segretti?

Watergate and even Contra-gate pale in comparison to the wholesale lawlessness this time around. From Jack Abramoff’s bribes, to outing Valerie Plame; from lying about weapons of mass destruction and getting thousands of people killed; from wholesale fraud and attacks on the right to vote, to the gutting of the Justice Department, to torture and other possible war crimes—this can’t be allowed to go on.


Cheney and Rumsfeld were bad enough. But it is equally critical that lower-echelon culprits lacking household names like John Yoo, David Addington (nicknamed “Cheney’s Cheney”), and General Geoffrey Miller be held accountable for their alleged involvement in torture and other serious crimes. Otherwise, they could one day rise to Attorney General, Secretary of Defense, or even the Supreme Court and pick up right where they left off in their blood-soaked shredding of the Constitution.


Even a South African-style Truth Commission would be an important step in preventing this from ever happening again. Otherwise, why should I or anyone else obey the law when my own government does not even pretend to? Even if Bush pardons the most blatant war criminals, all we have to do is fulfill President Clinton’s promise to join the rest of the world in the International Criminal Court and they might not get away with it after all. We must come clean and drain the swamp now or it is just going to get dirtier. A lot dirtier.


Rule of law must also be restored when it comes to the NSA, FISA and domestic spying. The Internet revolt by your own followers was right. Your vote for letting the NSA, and even the phone companies, off the hook for massive illegal spying on American citizens was a very bad mistake. These are the exact same crimes that got Nixon thrown out of office for Watergate. Now Watergate is legal too? I have to say it—this doesn’t remind me of Nixon as much as Italy’s ordeal under Silvio Berlusconi. In Italy I have heard the joke again and again that “Berlusconi has to stay in power or else he’ll go to jail.” Sure enough, every time Berlusconi gets indicted for yet another crime, his majority in Parliament simply changes the law and he goes free. There should be zero tolerance for Berlusconi disease.


Plus, does this much spying even make sense? What are we gaining here besides a bigger avalanche of useless data? If 9/11 was an inside job, it was not one of conspiracy but colossal, runaway incompetence. We were already spying on way too many people, collecting way too much data that no one had time to analyze. Thus finding the real terrorists before they struck was like looking for a needle in a football stadium.


I have a feeling you may sign an important bill or two right from the podium during your inauguration speech. It might be an economic stimulus package or lifting the ban on stem cell research. How about also signing your first executive order declaring all of Bush’s presidential signing statements he added on to bills he signed to be null and void. These things will go a long way toward restoring the rule of law.


STAMP OUT ELECTION FRAUD – RESTORE THE RIGHT TO VOTE

I never thought that after all these years we would once again find ourselves fighting for our right to vote. In the United States of America? It is well-established now that every election at least since 2000, including the midterms, has been marred by widespread vote fraud, especially via the hacking and manipulations of electronic voting machines. But these widespread crimes have never been fully investigated, let alone prosecuted. Even the US Civil Rights Commission recommended prosecuting then-Governor Jeb Bush over all the fraud and voter intimidation in Florida during the 2002 election. But his brother’s Justice Department declined.


It is obvious the Help America Vote Act has backfired and done the opposite. Optical scan machines are not the answer at all. They have now been proven to be just as hackable as the notorious paperless touch-screens. They should all be junked once and for all. Digital is not always better, and voting should not be privatized. Any system where the people’s votes are counted in secret behind closed doors has no place in a democracy. Nor is there room for contracting out the verification of our registration forms to the same corrupt biased companies that manufacture the phony voting machines.


We can’t just let this massive, widespread vote stealing go on and pretend it isn’t happening. It may be too late to reverse the wreckage of all the stolen elections. But again, a Truth Commission to prove how it was done and who did it is essential to the survival of our democracy. Anyone in Congress with a spine for this? The people have a right to know.


CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM – THE EASY WAY

I am sure you would agree that this election campaign was way WAY too long. Other countries, including one just north of us, limit campaign time to between 30 and 60 days. Election fever is much more focused so voter participation is higher. Why can’t we do this? Sure, these other countries use parliamentary systems (another change I hope for) where the party in power calls an election and it takes place a short time later. But think of what we could save—and what we would gain—if we limited campaign time to 90 days. There could be 30 days between announcements and the primaries, followed by a 30-day primary season, then a 30-day home stretch to Election Day. Anyone who jumps the gun by jockeying, soliciting contributions or electioneering too early is automatically disqualified.


I hope you would also agree that campaigns for high office have become obscenely expensive. We now have a full-blown Election Industrial Complex. Wouldn’t it be great if you didn’t need $750 million to run for President? The way our campaign contributions and lobbyists work today has another name in other countries. It’s called bribery.


Another way to restore sanity is to go national with a law enacted by popular vote in Nevada. If you don’t like any of the candidates for an office in Nevada, you are allowed to vote None of the Above. If N.O.T.A. wins, they have to re-run the election with all new candidates.


You say you want more people to get up and get involved? Lower the voting age! To get people’s attention I have suggested lowering it clear down to age 5. But more realistically, I suggest showing people they have a stake in our democracy by allowing ages 14 and up to vote on school boards and school bond issues, 16 and up for local offices and ballot measures, and 18 and up for everything else. Overcoming voter apathy is hard, but when young people cast votes and see results, they’ll stick with it long term.


RETHINK AND SHUT DOWN THE WAR ON DRUGS

Prohibition is as absurd and fruitless today as it was when Eliot Ness ran around shooting up Chicago trying to stamp out illegal beer. The world is laughing at us while real people are being robbed, jailed, assaulted and even killed. We have more people locked in prison than any country in the history of the world. But our drug use rate has barely dropped at all. The blood and violence from gangs and narco-traffickers that have left Colombia and Mexico on the verge of becoming failed states is spilling across our borders. This is no country for old men—or old laws.


Could we do worse than to at least try the Harm Reduction programs used most successfully in Holland and other parts of Europe? As unorthodox as this sounds, decriminalizing (not legalizing) even harder drugs, making them available on prescription from the government for free, along with a safe place to use them, has led to a much lower crime rate—and even addiction rate—than ours. Why? The free prescriptions mean the addict does not have to rob and kill people to pay the drug gangs’ high prices, and the gangs are put out of business. Dealers are still treated harshly and rehab is strongly encouraged. This could also save up to $50 billion a year for rehab and education that is otherwise wasted by throwing people in prison.


This also frees up billions and billions of dollars to treat the addicts when they want to get off drugs—which will be sooner rather than later. Rehab costs 2/3 less than prison. Our mushrooming prison-industrial complex is draining our money so badly that state after state is slashing funds for education—education!—to pay for throwing more and more people in prison. In California, a prison guard now makes more money than a teacher. So much for family values.


What is wrong with this picture?!??? As president I suggest the commuting of federal prison sentences of all small-time non-violent drug offenders to time served and releasing them immediately. Then strongly urge governors to do the same at the state level. Again, think of all the wasted taxpayer dollars this will free up for more important things like education and rehabilitation. Estimates run as high as $50 billion nationwide.


This does not mean any of these drugs should be legalized, just decriminalized. That is, strictly regulated like alcohol and tobacco, with big-time dealers and gangs treated as harshly as ever. For another way to fight the drug lords, consider this. In 2005 the United States spent $780 million on drug eradication in Afghanistan. Where on earth did it all go? It worked so poorly that $600 million of poppies and heroin escaped into the market anyway.


Do the math: We could have saved a whopping $180 million if we had simply gone to the suppliers and bought the drugs, and then destroyed them so they won’t keep making people sick and killing my friends. As sickening as it is to even think of doing business with drug cartels, can anyone think of a better way to cut off the supply? A counter-argument is that this will actually force the gangs to drive the street price way up. But with Harm Reduction programs already in place they will have nothing to sell, no place to sell it, and no suckers willing to buy.


And for crying out loud, isn’t it time to finally get real and decriminalize marijuana? If current strains are more potent than the old days, so what? Study after study still proves that marijuana is less harmful—and less addictive—than alcohol or tobacco. Nowadays, going overboard against marijuana has not only flooded our prisons to the breaking point, it has driven the price of cannabis so high that young people are going straight into crack cocaine and methamphetamines.
Is this wise?

On top of that, it is not just oil we are dangerously low on, we are running out of wood. If we ever hope to turn the tide on global warming and save what is left of our forests, we must remove all bans on the cultivation of cannabis for its many industrial uses—including the strain of hemp that has no THC in it to get anyone high but is still banned anyway. Recycling is not enough. Why chop down millions of trees to make paper when we can use hemp or kanaf and then grow another crop of paper a few months later? It does not get any greener than this. It will also help rescue a lot of family farms.


Finally, the Joe Biden-authored Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act (formerly known as the RAVE Act), passed as a rider to the Amber Alert Bill, is as big a disgrace as the PATRIOT Act. It has no place in a free society and should be repealed immediately. Long-term rescue of our social fabric and society, not to mention our southern neighbors, depends in major part on enacting humane drug laws.


RESTORE BALANCE TO THE SUPREME COURT

Even George Will complained that Bill Clinton’s Supreme Court nominees were too moderate; that the court needs a good progressive or two for the full and thorough consideration of each issue. Balancing the court means choosing a justice or two with the passion and spirit of a Thurgood Marshall, John Marshall or William O. Douglas, even if you do not fully agree with them. You may only have a two-year window before a mid-term Congress cramps your style.


MEDIA REFORM

The Federal Communications Commission should get off their high horse about Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” or naughty words that everyone says anyway, and instead focus on the rampant hate speech and outright lies that are falsely broadcast as impartial news. Sure, celebrity bullies like Rush Limbaugh, Lou Dobbs, Glenn Beck, and Ann Coulter have a right to say what they want. But when no one—even the target of a personal attack—is allowed the right to reply, the very idea of an informed democracy goes out the window.
Was that their goal in the first place?

Nowadays, mainstream corporate media deliberately dumbing down the news, omitting key facts and sides of the story, or neglecting to report the story altogether is the worst form of censorship going on in America today. Since the big mergers, most debate that gets aired at all is restricted to right wing versus ultra-right wing, while the rest of us are allowed to laugh along with Stewart and Colbert.
What kind of democracy are we when freedom of speech—or the equally important right to communicate—belongs only to the oligarchs who control the airwaves?

There used to be a law called the Fairness Doctrine that guaranteed the right of reply, without Bill O’Reilly yelling at you to shut up every 15 seconds. It was allowed to expire late in the Reagan years, and urgently needs to be renewed. Your stated opposition to this puzzles me. What better tool is there for “opening up the airwaves and modern communications to as many diverse viewpoints as possible” than making sure they are allowed to be seen and heard in the first place? And how about some enforcement of the laws guaranteeing that the public, not corporations, owns the airwaves. Even the big corporate media barons should again be required to renew their FCC license to broadcast every five years, complete with public hearings.


I also do not think anyone should be allowed to graduate from high school until they pass a class on media literacy. Sadly, we do not yet have the curriculum. In the meantime we must all pitch in with the teaching—to both adults and children.


ECONOMIC STIMULUS – START WITH PEOPLE WHO NEED IT MOST

I’m glad there seems to be a sense up top that national security, the economy, climate collapse and the environment are all intertwined. Think about it. No rogue state or terrorist threatens our national security nearly as much as our collapsing economy. The growing gap between the rich and poor is what is tearing apart the lives of average Americans and their families.


National security means:

• Everyone has a home.


• Everyone has enough decent food to eat.


• Everyone can drink the water without having to buy it in a bottle from Coke or Pepsi.


• No one has to worry about getting their hand cut off at work or having their job outsourced overseas.


• Everyone can be who they are without fear of being detained and tortured without trial.


• Everyone can vote without fear, knowing their vote will be counted—accurately.


• Every woman has the right to choose what to do with her own body.


• Everyone has enough money for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.


• Everyone, even if they don’t have money, has the right to see a doctor if they’re sick or hurt. In so many other countries this is a guaranteed human right by law.


Stimulating and reviving the economy will only succeed from the ground up. This means getting a lot more money quickly to the people on the bottom who need it the most. When they finally have some cash in their pocket they will be more than eager to spend it. Stores perk up, jobs are saved, and the train is finally rolling out of the station. This is why leaders as diverse as Martin Luther King, Milton Friedman and even Richard Nixon have at different times proposed a guaranteed annual income so that everyone can participate and keep our economy humming. Raise the minimum wage to a living wage: $9.50 an hour helps, but $12 an hour is closer to a true living wage. Welfare should not be a dirty word, especially after PBS reported last month that if you count all the Americans who have given up looking for work because they can’t find any and dropped off the radar screen, unemployment is actually around 12%! So please remove the time limits on unemployment compensation, welfare benefits and Aid to Families with Dependent Children that were slapped on the least fortunate during the Clinton years.


But where will the money come from when we burn it all up shoveling it down the mouths of the dragons on Wall Street? You are right to point out that trickle-down supply-side economics never trickled down. It wasn’t supposed to. How will this be any different? To the average taxpayer this so-called bailout looks more like the last great looting of our treasury before Bush and his cronies get the hell out of dodge. There is also growing concern about the appearance of self-dealing by officials with connections to Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.


So far your own economic team seems alarmingly slanted toward the robber barons who helped create this mess in the first place. Where is Joseph Stiglitz? Where is Robert Reich? Are we still all in this together? Your Economic Advisory Council is supposed to be a council, not a choir! You say you want a support staff that debate and give you diverse ideas.
So even if you do not agree with them, how about adding William Greider or Doug Henwood or even Naomi Klein as well?

GREEN JOBS THROUGH GREEN AID

Let’s move even faster on climate collapse.
The clock is ticking…

Your proposal to spend $150 billion on our crumbling infrastructure is a good beginning. But it is only 10% of the $1.5 trillion in urgent repairs the American Society of Civil Engineers says we need right now to avoid more disasters like the freeway bridge collapse in Minnesota. This does not even account for restocking the Bush-depleted Superfund to clean up toxic waste, or creating affordable housing for everyone. Your plan states, “We’ll put people back to work rebuilding our roads and bridges, modernizing schools that are failing our children and building wind farms and solar panels, fuel efficient cars and the alternative energy technology that could free us from our dependence on foreign oil and keep our economy competitive in the years ahead.” Therefore, it makes a lot of sense to spend whatever it takes to weather-strip and winterize old homes and buildings now if the owners can’t afford it. It will reduce our swollen carbon footprint dramatically and save tens if not hundreds of billions of dollars over the next few years. How about aid for solar panels? Home windmills too? Not just tax breaks, aid. Most people just don’t have the money for this. Time magazine reported in 2001 that an American farmer could get $50 for an acre of wheat and $2000 for an acre of wind power. We either pay to do this now or pay a lot more later. Europeans are already way ahead of us on this one.


Also, look for ways to accomplish two or three things at once with every renewal project. Replacing the water or sewer lines? Lay fiber optic cable! Our not-so-liberal mayor in San Francisco, Gavin Newsom, nixed that idea because there was not enough graft in it for telecom companies. His own silly plan for wi-fi towers fell on its face, so a smart opportunity was wasted.


AUTO AID – REQUIRE GREENER CARS

Ever seen a documentary film called Who Killed the Electric Car? They worked so well their owners did not want to give them back. But when their leases came up, Detroit snatched them away and destroyed them. Now Detroit wants a great big handout? Then another? Then another? There should be no bailout for carmakers if all they are willing to offer in return is more fuel-hogging clunkers like the Ford Flex. No aid until they bring back the electric cars! If the Chevy Volt is so great, why aren’t they selling them now? For almost 30 years, people who go to design schools have told me that the car designers almost always pursue jobs overseas because Detroit is still unable to adapt as quickly to fresh ideas for the future.


So far “clean coal” seems to be about as clean as our mountains of “clean nuclear waste.” Again, no aid to big coal companies unless they end their environmentally devastating “mountain top removal” plundering once and for all.


TRAINS MAKE SENSE – PEOPLE ARE READY

Another crucial way to fight global warming and reduce our dependence on foreign oil is to wake up and get serious about a nationwide high-speed rail system and better rapid transit in the cities. Again, Europe, Japan, and even China are way ahead of us. When I do my speaking tours in Europe it is so much easier and less expensive than traveling here: Just take my backpack and go. Even a normal train is often faster than flying. No traffic jams getting to the airport, no long security lines, no baggage claim wait, no traffic jams back into the next town. I just get on the train and get off the train, right downtown. The scenery is pretty cool too.


Amtrak has hemorrhaged money year after year. But ridership is finally going up, in spite of the decimated service. People have finally grown so fed up with traffic jams, fuel prices and the arrogance of our bumbling airline industry that a proper train system would now do very well. Just ask former Salt Lake City mayor Rocky Anderson, another intriguing choice for a high position in your administration. Californians finally passed a bond issue to begin work on a long-overdue bullet train system between San Francisco Bay and Los Angeles. People I have talked to in random conversation are almost as excited about this as they are about your own election. A similar initiative passed in Florida in 2000, but Governor Jeb Bush impounded the funds.


Surely we can find the money by canceling a few aircraft carriers, tanks and planes we don’t need, and by shutting off the faucet for the hundreds of billions wasted on Reagan’s star wars fantasy—now known as “missile defense.
” Are those new installations in the Czech Republic and Poland really worth all the grief they’re stirring up with the Russians? The Czech and Polish people don’t even want them there!

Green energy technology should also be shared, even given, to the Chinese ASAP. Here on the West Coast I have to wipe a brown sooty film off my windshield every couple of days—and my car is in a garage! It is coal dust from Chinese factories. They open a new coal plant ever few days.
According to Mother Jones, sustaining an American lifestyle for a Chinese middle class predicted to reach 600 million will require the resources of several more Earths!

COMPETE GLOBALLY – TAKE BETTER CARE OF OUR PEOPLE

Other countries prefer a healthy workforce and are willing to pay for it. Here we stick our workforce with fat, greedy insurance companies who serve no purpose but to act as a tollbooth or a gatekeeper and charge exorbitant fees before a person can even see a doctor. The result, of course, is the most expensive healthcare system with the least benefit for the buck of any in the industrialized world. You say the big insurance companies “should have a place at the table.
” Aren’t these companies the problem?

Other counties want their workforce to be as well-educated as possible to better care for themselves and compete in the global economy. So they are willing to pay to make sure this happens, instead of kicking them in the face with back-breaking student loans and cutting school funding to the bone.


Other countries want their children to grow up well-nourished and loved instead of dysfunctional. They are happy to pay welfare for single parents to stay home with their little ones, and for 12-18 months maternity leave with 80-90% pay for either parent to make sure no child is left behind.


Traveling overseas it is not hard to notice that many European countries, and not just Scandinavia, have a higher standard of living than we do, and the gap is widening. The reason is they are willing to pay for it.


HUMANE TAX REFORM

Please do not break your promise to raise income taxes on the wealthy and close those Titanic-sized loopholes that allowed two-thirds of US and foreign corporations who do business here to pay no tax at all between 1998 and 2005. We used to have a tiny tax on security speculation and stock transactions. Britain still does. If the annual amount of wheeling and dealing in the stock market really amounts to the reported $500 trillion a year, a mere 1% tax could raise $5 trillion per year and Wall Street would not even feel it! Other ways to raise badly needed revenue without hurting Joe the Plumber would be to tax companies who pollute, divert funds overseas, and ship jobs out of the country, as well as taxing stock windfalls rewarded by Wall Street for balancing the bottom line with employee layoffs.


Last September the Bush administration quietly dynamited Section 382 of the tax code allowing big banks to run off with as much as $140 billion dollars in new tax breaks that many suspect are illegal. Was this illegal? Please enforce the law and stop the bleeding now.


We could also follow the lead of Berlin, Moscow, Beijing, and even the state of Maine and encourage cities to start their own municipal or community banks. Being a non-profit, these banks would provide low-cost loans for homes and small businesses. They would also save cities millions of dollars apiece that they now waste on private banking fees.


Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D - IL) proposes generous tax breaks and shareholder advantages to “patriotic corporations” who limit management salaries to 100 times the lowest-paid fulltime worker. I think 10 times is better. Shareholders need better legal tools to limit runaway CEO pay and looting by top executives.


Schakowsky would also give tax breaks to corporations that: produce at least 90% of their goods and services in the United States; spend at least 50% of the research and development budgets here at home; stay out of employee organizing drives; are clean with the EPA, OSHA and the NRLB; and provide their employees with generous and portable pension funds and health insurance. They must also agree not to price-gouge consumers.


So how do we convince Americans that it is in our best interest to help pay for all of this? It would help if you use your power to inspire and persuade, to get through to people in this country that not all taxes are automatically bad, especially when spent in a way that benefits them directly. Starting with the Boston Tea Party in kindergarten, it is drilled into us that taxes are this terrible violation of our freedom. As adults we have had 30 plus years of media sermons from both parties that we are no longer a community, but a marketplace, and that competitiveness is more important than caring about one another.
Isn’t it interesting that the people least interested in paying taxes are often the first to complain when a government service they take for granted doesn’t work any more?

To wise people up and chip away at this I suggest pointing out what happened to California when voters passed Proposition 13 and gutted what was once the number one education system in the country, if not the world. It is now almost dead last. According to the ACLU, some schools in Los Angeles are not only short on books and desks, they don’t even have toilet paper. Californians also voted down an initiative guaranteeing universal healthcare after the Disease Industry ran a blitz of TV ads claiming it would raise people’s taxes. They banked on people failing to do the math and see how a slight tax increase would dramatically reduce their own medical bills.


Another example is the tale of two of the Quad Cities on the Mississippi River. In the 1990s, Rock Island, IL voters were willing to raise taxes to build a floodwall. Voters in Davenport, IA rejected a wall three times because it would raise taxes. Guess whose town was devastated the next time the Mississippi flooded? To raise local money for local and state projects voters have to be shown that it is worth raising taxes to pay for these things.


Taxes also wouldn’t hurt so much if the people had more say in where their money went. How about placing 12-15 categories in US income tax forms so people can vote what percentage of their tax money they want spent where? I’ll bet education, the environment, infrastructure, and services would go straight up and our bloated military cash cow would go straight down.


HELP PEOPLE RESIST FORECLOSURES

To fight the plague of foreclosures, I suggest following the lead of the Cook County Sheriff in Chicago by declaring a moratorium on foreclosure evictions. Debts to predatory lenders should be forgiven at once. Many families are fleeing their homes because they are so frightened of the cruel Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, they are willing to default on their mortgage just to keep up with their credit card debts. You voted against this law. Now let’s get rid of it. I am inspired by City Life/Vida Urbana in Boston who have said “Yes We Can” to reviving the Depression-era practice of volunteer rolling brigades who show up to defend people’s homes from eviction, and if need be take all the furniture and belongings back from the curb into the house. In addition, they alert the media to help shame the banks and predatory lenders from coming back. In many cases it has worked.


The most intriguing proposal flying around the Internet is for everyone who files an individual tax return to be given $1 million dollars on the condition that they use it to pay off their mortgage in full (thus bailing out the banks) and buy an American car within the next three years. Whatever is left over is theirs to keep and invest. Unfortunately the math does not add up. Even the staggering estimated total of $8 trillion thrown at our collapsing economy would only bring $57,971.01 for each of the 138 million individual tax returns filed each year. Too bad, it is an interesting idea.


“THIS MOVEMENT IS NOT JUST ABOUT ONE PERSON…”

I’m glad to hear you say that, but I keep waiting for you to expand and take it further. To point out how much it also matters who is in the Senate, who is in the House, the Governor, the State legislature, mayors, city councils, school boards, ballot initiatives, county commissioners, you name it. To say that if a person is not satisfied with what is going on in their community, they should get involved. If they are not satisfied with how they are being represented, they should consider running for office themselves. A lot of inspired people would. What else can we do in the meantime to make things better? What simple, easy steps can we take in our own lives? You have two more chances—Inauguration and the State of the Union. Before people return to the slumber of Soundbite McNews.


Bill Clinton could have won back Congress in 1996 if he had used his popularity, convention speech and pulpit for something besides his own shoo-in re-election. But he didn’t. I was in the room for Al Gore’s acceptance speech in 2000. He didn’t bother either. It was just about one person.


I’ll be amazed if Mr. Obama or anyone close actually reads this, so this last part is for you folks who have. To me, if there is an Obama movement, it is more like the Pope-mobile. You know, that cage of bulletproof glass on wheels that rolls around with the Pope inside, waving at his adoring flock, “Yo! I’m here! Look at me, I’m the Pope!” Then everybody goes home.
But who is driving the Pope-mobile? Can a crowd organize to block the wrong turns and steer it in a better direction?

I did not vote for you, but I dearly want you to succeed at delivering the change you have promised. We have very little time and may not get another chance. Recent history shows we have eight years maximum before the pendulum swings back the other way—and hard. She may lose once or twice, but I fear the Pitbull with Lipstick will one day be bigger than Reagan.


In many ways, people seem to be looking to you as their new great-and-powerful Oprah as much as they look at you as their President. This can be useful too. To revive people’s sense of community and what it entails. To persuade people that voting for small local tax increases brings much greater benefits for everyone down the road. To encourage people to not just recycle but look for ways to stop wasting so much. Those same European countries whose standard of living seems to be higher than ours use a fraction per capita of natural resources we do. How do they do it? Think of all the forests we could save just by showing people how much paper they can save just by writing on the other side before they throw it away? Imagine if lawyers figured this out.


HONOR AND RESPECT YOUR MOVEMENT

Please don’t ever forget why so many people who had given up hope are investing so much of their hearts and hope in you. If that hope is shattered and they feel betrayed, a great deal more will collapse for good.


So to keep your movement alive—and help it grow beyond you—keep those texts and e-mail lists alive! Keep your Blackberry. Does it matter if it all becomes public record? How about a posting a daily log of what you did and who you and your staff met with, including lobbyists. Why not keep all those campaign offices you opened all over the country alive too? Convert them to branch offices. Senators and House members have branch offices all over their districts. You now represent the whole country. Keep the branches.


Above all, be a leader, not a dealmaker. There are times when cutting a deal is the same as cutting and running. To put it mildly, we can’t afford that anymore. There are no sails left to trim.


And if this is a movement about change and not just about one person, it is up to the movement to drive the President, not the other way around. Please do not stand in the way.


Sincerely,
Jello Biafra

Little Hasheem(Travie), couldn’t help myself……

Beauty Within The Riots Greece

So here’s a picture of my friend Phil and I holding up Hasheem’s Shirt.(click the pic to check out Santa’s Blog) You wil def. see me rocking this on the Lil’ Wayne/T-Pain Tour. Thanks to Phil and Phina at sugarheadquarters NYC (www.sugarheadquarters.com) for introducing me to Santa and his whole movement, Here’s a little background on Santa:
Santa Inoue
Born in Paris, France in 1968. Santa Inoue is known around the world as the premier urban manga artists. Santa Inoue’s work is heavily influenced by his love of hip hop and his relationship with his hometown Tokyo.

In 1989,Santa Inoue won the coveted new comers prize from “Young Sunday Magazine” for his work “MURDER”. This debuted him as the manga artist to lookout for.
Santa is best known for his series “Tokyo Tribe” which he created in 1993. And its follow-up Tokyo Tribe2 garnered international acclaim and is published worldwide. Tokyo Tribe2 was launched and serialized in the fashion magazine BOON(JP). Tokyo Tribe2 was animated and broadcasted through WOWOW in Japan in 2006. And now, Tokyo Tribe3 is serialized in the fashion magazine Ollie(JP).Other notable works by Santa Inoue include NEIGHBOR13, which was made into a film in 2005.

To further bring the SANTASTIC! world to his fans, Santa Inoue launched his flagship store in Shibuya, Tokyo in 2002. Fans and shoppers can peruse the racks for selvedge denim, outerwear, hoodies, tees, and accessories all designed by Santa Inoue. Santastic! Wear collection is now available throughout Japan at all the tastemaker boutiques. SANTASTIC! Shanghai was opened in the summer of 2008.

Santa Inoue has been a long time fan of vinyl toys which led to the numerous limited edition Tokyo Tribe toys. Fans and collectors line up for the special release collectibles. Tokyo Tribe Kubricks, Bearbricks, Talking Hasheem, Tokyo Tribe character Monchhichi, and collaborations with KAWS and MICHAEL LAU can all be found on the most wanted list of any serious toy collector.
Santa Inoue further brings his vision through music, which is his muse for many of his works. In the past Santa Inoue has designed album covers for DE LA SOUL, worked with DJ MURO to score the music to his animation, and has also produced a cd titled “DRIVIN’ WIZ MY HOMIES”(UNIVERSAL).

Currently Santa Inoue resides in Tokyo.

We have alot of cool ideas cooking up for next year, i’ll be sure to keep you posted…

SO I AM COMPLETELY OBSESSED WITH HASHEEM FROM TOKYO TRIBE, go to youtube and type in TOKYO TRIBE, it’s an anime by a dude named Santa who has been completley gratuitous to me. Hasheem is a spitting image of me when i was in high school, personality to boot.

and so kiddies….A few stories went out yesterday about Katy and I being engaged. I just want to clarify, they are indeed FALSE. Many of you know that I gave Katy a ring not too long ago, NOT an engagement ring, A RING. Katy and I are in NO rush to the chapel, we’re obviously in love and googly eyed for each other but we’re taking things day by day, Christmas will be festive enough!! Besides, The “Charles Hamilton and Soulja Boy” Beef is way more exciting and promising than my marital status. Thank you-TravieBear

lets see what kind of trouble we get into ill bb later with an exciting update im sure!

Later Peeps

CARDBOARD CITY BITCH!!!

“One of the few good things about modern times: If you die horribly on television, you will not have died in vain. You will have entertained us.”

- Vonnegut

UH-OH!! What a mess!!!

Also this.

Dear Santa,

Get me this or kill yourself, Thanks.

sincerely,

Tyler G. Pursel

wow I just saw an add for this site on an infomercial, easily the most awkward dudes ever.

DRUNKEN   TATTOO NIGHT=CANDY CANES!!!!! Can You Spot them all??????

It’s 2:03am i’m in miami and it is starting to seem like sleep is out of the question, so basically i’m back to my somewhat regular self. I’m using my time to upload all of my music from my IPOD to my brand new 1 terrabyte hard drive, while it is indeed tim consuming I suspect it will feel somewhat rewarding once i’m finished. I’m also currently enjoying my sophmore viewing of Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, I ordered this off the hotel TV a little while back and the shit cut out right before the ending so i’m stoked to see how it all comes together (though I’m sure I have a pretty good idea of how it ends). It’s a pretty standard film in the Juno fashion, simple timeless storyline modernized with urban hipster chic and fancy indie rock soundtrack….usually the kind of thing that bothers the hell out of me but for whatever reason its just to enjoyable on several different levels. Bus call is at 8am so I suppose I should be getting to sleep though like usual i’m sure that won’t happen.

SO, my friends Anthony and his wife Nicole stopped by tonight and fought about who the MAN of the house was, it was AWESOME, We did shots of Goose and chased it with Ginger Ale, WELL, Nicole did, ME and ANt took it straight to the face NO CHASE!!! we concluded that Anthony is the President of the House and Nicole is the First Woman, on some Yes’m massa shit!! 1-0 Ant!

I just got into the Philly airport only to realize that my flight has been delayed 25 minutes, while this would normally infuriate me i’m in somewhat of an uncharecteristically good mood today. I just had a rather shitty chicken lettuce wrap and now i’m settling in to some free internet courtesy of the fine bastards at Philadelphia International airport. I went to a show last night put on at the house where I used to live prior to joining Gym Class Heroes and for a short while after and it honestly made me feel like a kid again, in a good way. Free show, 5 bands and a case of cheap beer almost always equal a recipe for a good time. I went mainly for The Danger O’s dudes but Spraynard which are a new incarnation of an older band called The Domino Theory are really growing on me, these dudes are also responsible for putting the whole thing together which was amazing, I feel like the reason a lot of shit sucks on a local music level is the result of the kids being real pieces of shit and going to the show hellbent on getting fucked up, fucking something up or stealing things and just being a real piece of shit. I’m happy to report that there was none of this going on and everyone was very respectful of the house and noise and such and it ended up being a real good time, to my knowledge the cops never even showed up. I’m glad there are dudes like Pat Spraynard and Justin Danger fighting for some semblance of all that was once great about local music, I should also give a shout out to Matt from Phoenixville News while i’m at it. While I think most of the eastern PA music scene is pretty much beyond repair its nice to know there are people still playing music just to play music and have a good time. In unrelated news i’m actually finding myself somewhat excited for this upcoming tour, I plan to get a lot of shit done on my downtime and not be a waste of life this may be the tour of creative writing, daily showering and healthier eating that i’ve always dreamed of but we’ll see, I always start these things with the best of intentions and end up fucking it all up. Arena tours are a strange animal, on one hand the boredom can overtake you and there is usually literally nowhere to go, no escape. You spend most of your days waiting for catering watching mindless movies or television on the bus, on the other hand it is kind of nice to have everything nice and laid out for you in terms of downtime showtimes and meal times, I can definetly appreciate a certain amount of monotony as long as its the good kind. In other news.

1. I’ve been listening to Neil Young’s Harvest record a lot and wondering how influential this must have been on a young Ryan Adams.

2. I’ve also been listening to a bunch of Ted Leo’s latest, this dude makes my very short list of acceptable people from New Jersey.

3. I really want to purchase a field recorder so I can just walk around and record shit in the middle of nowhere, we are doing our next tour with one bus as opposed to our usual tour so attaining privacy to play and sing is complicated, with one of these I can record anywhere now its just about finding the right one.

4. I’m really proud of our record store, even more so the balls we showed in opening a record store in the first place, I have big dreams for it but at the same time i’m just happy its a reality, it has been a dream of mine since I was very young and I suppose I should be thankful. visit www.creepindustries.com for more info.

5. My flight is boarding gotta go more later!

I had a dream about zombies…and then I woke up…OR DID I???

I don’t care either……